Dollar to Pound FX Report: USD/GBP Exchange Rate Weekly Roundup Feb 2015

February 22, 2015 - Written by Tim Boyer

STORY LINK Dollar to Pound FX Report: USD/GBP Exchange Rate Weekly Roundup Feb 2015

US Dollar Exchange Rate Outlook vs the British Pound Sterling (22th Feb 2015)

The US Dollar got off to a slow start last week as the US markets were closed for the Presidents Day National Holiday.

Sterling too experienced little movement due to a lack of market moving economic data releases.

Most of the market’s attention was focused on events in Europe and geo political concerns arising from the ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Pound to Dollar Exchange Rate Advances on UK Inflation

On Tuesday, the Pound to Dollar advanced as UK inflation data showed that consumer prices fell to a record low in January. On an annual basis, the nation’s Core Inflation Rate ticked higher to 1.4%. On a monthly basis however overall inflation dipped by -0.9% and slipped to just 0.3% on annual basis.

Tuesday also saw the start of a run of disappointing economic data releases from the USA.

The New York State Manufacturing Index fell more than forecast from a reading of 9.95 to 7.78 in February.

The report raised concerns that the world’s largest economy could be experiencing a slowdown.

Those concerns were further heightened midweek as housing, producer price inflation and production data came in below forecasts.

The ‘Greenback’ also came under pressure as the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s February policy meeting showed that policy makers argued for interest rates to remain at record low levels for longer.

Thursdays US data also disappointed as it showed that the number of Americans claiming unemployment benefits increased more than forecast and the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index fell from 6.3 to 5.2. Economists had been forecasting for a strong improvement to a reading of 10.19.

Pound to Dollar (GBP/USD) Exchange Rate Fell on UK Retail

As the week came to an end the Pound went back onto the retreat against the US Dollar and other major peers as domestic data showed that UK retail sales fell on a monthly basis as cheaper food, petrol and holiday sales failed to inspire strong consumer spending.

On a monthly basis, retail sales fell by -0.3% and sales, which excluded volatile products such as oil, food etc fell by -0.7%, the yearly picture remains positive however, as on annual basis, sales were higher than previously.

Looking ahead, the main events will be the second estimate fourth quarter UK Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report. Economists are forecasting that the UK economy expanded at a pace of 0.5% on a quarterly basis, a softer figure than the 0.7% seen in the first estimate.

Latest Dollar Currency Rates Today:

The US Dollar to Australian Dollar conversion rate is -0.04 pct lower at 1.27436 USD/AUD.
The US Dollar to Canadian Dollar conversion rate is -0.01 pct lower at 1.25308 USD/CAD.
The US Dollar to Swiss Franc exchange rate converts +0.25 per cent higher at 1 USD is 0.94088 CHF.
The US Dollar to Euro exchange rate is -0.14 pct lower with a conversion rate of 1 USD equals 0.87754 EUR.
The US Dollar to Pound Sterling exchange rate today is converting -0.02 per cent lower at 0.64943 USD/GBP.

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